Survivor Series 2018 Report Card

Survivor Series took place last Sunday on November 18, 2018, with the kickoff show starting at 5 PM and the main show starting at 7 PM.

The match card included Team Raw (Tag Teams) vs Team SmackDown Live (Tag Teams) on the kickoff show, Buddy Murphy vs Mustafa Ali for the Cruiserweight Championship, Team Raw (Women) vs Team SmackDown Live (Women), Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins vs United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey vs Charlotte Flair, Team Raw (Men) vs Team SmackDown Live (Men), and Universal Champion Brock Lesnar vs WWE Champion Daniel Bryan.

Kickoff Show: 10 on 10 Traditional Survivor Series Elimination Match: Team Raw (Bobby Roode & Chad Gable, The Ascension, The B-Team, The Lucha Houseparty, & The Revival) vs Team SmackDown Live (Gallows & Anderson, New Day, SAnitY, the Colons, & the Usos)

This match did not count

Result: Team SmackDown Live defeated Team Raw after the Usos pinned the Revival with the Uso Splash leaving the Usos as the sole survivors for Team SmackDown Live.

Grade: B+

Analysis: This was a surprisingly good match. It was action packed and despite there being botches, it was pretty solid. The B-Team, the Colons, & the Ascension are all jobbers so there is nothing wrong with the fact that they were eliminated early in the match.

However, it was unacceptable that SAnitY were eliminated so early in the match. They have had to go through horrible booking since joining the main roster and really could have benefited from a strong performance. At the very least, they could have eliminated somebody like the Ascension, who had no business lasting longer than SAnitY.

Gallows & Anderson looked pretty good as they managed to score an elimination on former tag team champions the B-Team. Lucha Houseparty also managed to look pretty good despite a few botches and an injury suffered from Kalisto. Lince Dorado's counter of the Magic Killer was particularly innovative, as was Gran Metalik's springboard swanton bomb.

The Usos, New Day, Chad Gable & Bobby Roode, & the Revival all looked great. The New Day & The Usos showed excellent innovative tag team moves and looked great.

Bobby Roode & Chad Gable valiantly led Raw by hitting a beautiful Neckbreaker/Moonsault combination. Chad Gable also flew with assistance from Bobby Roode with an assisted Tope Con Hiro and took out the entire field when hitting an Avalanche German Suplex to the outside.

The Revival also surprisingly looked great. Their tag team supremacy was impressive as they eliminated both the Colons and the New Day. The face-off between the Revival & the Usos at the end of the match got a pretty big pop and it would be nice to see it again in the future.

Traditional Survivor Series 5 on 5 Women's Elimination Tag Team Match: Team Raw (Bayley, Mickie James, Nia Jax, Sasha Banks, & Tamina Snuka) vs Team SmackDown Live (Asuka, Carmella, Mandy Rose, Naomi, & Sonya Deville)

Bayley & Sasha Banks took Natalya & Ruby Riott's spots in this matchup

Result: Team Raw's women got the victory after Nia Jax eliminated Asuka with a Samoan Drop to be the sole survivor for Team Raw.

Grade: B-

Analysis: It was surprising to see Naomi be eliminated so early since she was the most successful woman on the team. However, it at the very least presented Tamina as a dominant force before being quickly eliminated by Carmella. Carmella's dance break as always was wonderful. It was also interesting to see Bayley & Carmella's exchanges due to their time spent together as Baymella back in NXT.

Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville looked great. Sonya Deville almost scored an elimination before Mandy Rose stole it from her. Mandy Rose also worked perfectly as the one who angered everybody in the match. Sonya Deville looked strong since she was not pinned or submitted and was eliminated as a result of a double count out.

Mickie James worked perfectly as she put over Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville. Bayley & Sasha Banks also looked good as they both scored an elimination. Bayley was protected as she was also eliminated alongside Sonya Deville in the double count out.

The exchange between Asuka & Sasha Banks was one of the highlights of the match as Asuka looked like the vicious killer that she was in NXT for a change causing me to feel a bit of hope for Asuka's chances of success in WWE.

WWE took advantage of the heat on Nia Jax due to her causing Becky Lynch's injury. Nia Jax turned on fan-favorite Sasha Banks to cause her elimination so that she did not have to share the glory with Sasha Banks.

She also took advantage of the fact that Asuka was already down because she had just submitted Nia Jax with the Asuka Lock. It would have been nice to see Asuka put up a little bit more of a fight but she did good and at the very least Nia Jax looked strong.

Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins vs United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura

Result: Seth Rollins defeats Shinsuke Nakamura via pinfall with the Stomp.

Grade: A-

Analysis: While this match started off pretty slow, it quickly kicked into second gear. The two superstars exchanged excellent back and forth techniques. They had excellent false finishes and near falls.

This was probably Shinsuke Nakamura's best singles match since facing AJ Styles in a Last Man Standing Match for the WWE Championship at Money in the Bank 2018. Shinsuke Nakamura honestly could have benefited from getting the win.

He has floundered since losing multiple WWE Title matches against AJ Styles and if he beat a top star like Seth Rollins maybe he would seem like more of a top star on SmackDown Live.

While the match could have been better it was still pretty good. While we know that Seth Rollins will face Dean Ambrose at TLC, we do not know who Shinsuke Nakamura will face although it could be someone like Rusev or Andrade 'Cien' Almas.

Raw Tag Team Champions The Authors of Pain (w./Drake Maverick) vs SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Bar (w./The Big Show)

This match symbolized Vince McMahon's feelings about tag team wrestling

Result: AOP defeated The Bar via pinfall with a Powerbomb/Neckbreaker combination

Grade: D+

Analysis: The most interesting part of this match was Enzo Amore crashing the show, and that was not even intended. The match itself was boring as it was as basic as you could get.

The Bar had control in the match, the AOP took control and beat down Cesaro, Cesaro made the hot tag to Sheamus and Sheamus took control for a decent amount of time, there was a false finish where The Bar almost got the win, and then the AOP got the victory.

Drake Maverick peeing himself shows just how much of a bad place WWE's tag team division is in as Vince McMahon sees tag team wrestling as nothing but comedy. At the very least, AOP got a victory over one of WWE's top tag teams.

Cruiserweight Championship: Buddy Murphy (c.) vs Mustafa Ali

This has actually been one of the great rivalries of the year

Result: Buddy Murphy defeats Mustafa Ali via pinfall with Murphy's Law.

Grade: A

Analysis: The cruiserweights, as always, stole the show. Buddy Murphy vs Mustafa Ali has been one of the top rivalries of 205 Live. The two had a great match that had the crowd chanting "205". There were some extremely innovative spots throughout the match including a draping tilt a whirl DDT, a reverse rana, and a Spanish Fly off of the announce table.

Buddy Murphy was extremely stiff throughout the match as he hit some incredibly brutal moves including several knee strikes that sounded brutal. Both men looked strong and it was also really nice to see Buddy Murphy get the clean victory so that he could look like a dominant champion.

Buddy Murphy will likely move on to a superstar like Cedric Alexander or even Noam Dar. It is also possible that we see a triple threat match that leads to a Cedric Alexander heel turn and a feud between Cedric Alexander & Mustafa Ali.

Traditional Survivor Series 5 on 5 Elimination Mens Tag Team Match: Team Raw (Bobby Lashley, Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, & Finn Balor) vs Team SmackDown Live (Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio, Samoa Joe, Shane McMahon, & The Miz)

These 10 men are some of WWE's top superstars

Result: Team Raw defeats Team SmackDown Live after Braun Strowman pins Shane McMahon via pinfall with a Running Powerslam leaving Bobby Lashley, Braun Strowman, and Drew McIntyre as the sole survivors for Team Raw.

Grade: C+

Analysis: This match was better than last year's match. However, Samoa Joe's elimination was unacceptable. He was eliminated about 30 seconds into the match by Drew McIntyre, causing him to look like a loser.

The highlight of the match was easily the exchange between Rey Mysterio & Finn Balor. That would be a dream match and hopefully will take place at some point next year. Finn Balor at the very least looked good so he doesn't need to worry about being the first member of Team Raw being eliminated.

Jeff Hardy & The Miz both did not need to worry about having a strong performance in this match so they looked good. Braun Strowman was predictably the dominant beast that he works well as.

However, Shane McMahon had no business being the last superstar on Team SmackDown Live. At the very least, he did not outlast the rest of Team Raw.

However, would it have been too much for Dolph Ziggler to eliminate Shane McMahon as revenge for Shane McMahon stealing the "Best in the World Title" from him? It is possible that this leads to a double turn between Shane McMahon & The Miz.

Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey vs Charlotte Flair

Charlotte Flair was a suitable replacement for Becky Lynch

Result: Ronda Rousey defeated Charlotte Flair via disqualification after Charlotte Flair attacked Ronda Rousey with a kendo stick. Charlotte Flair then viciously attacked Ronda Rousey's neck with a steel chair.

Grade: A

Analysis: This was a great match. There was some fear that the crowd would hijack this match due to anger about Becky Lynch being taken out of this match. Thankfully, this match was an amazing, brutal match.

Charlotte Flair took Ronda Rousey to the limit and was Ronda Rousey's toughest test ever in WWE and was also the first woman to ever break out of the armbar. Ronda Rousey also continues to prove that she is one of WWE's best performers.

The assault after the match was amazing. It was about time that Charlotte Flair turned heel and it is good that she did. These 2 women should definitely have a rematch at Royal Rumble before Ronda Rousey faces Becky Lynch for the Raw Women's Championship at WrestleMania 35.

Universal Champion Brock Lesnar vs WWE Champion Daniel Bryan

This dream match definitely lived up to the hype.

Result: Brock Lesnar defeated Daniel Bryan via pinfall with the F5.

Grade: A

Analysis: When the match started and Brock Lesnar hit the first German Suplex, I was immediately scared for Daniel Bryan's health. Each time that he landed on his head, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach that this would be Daniel Bryan's last ever match in WWE. After Brock Lesnar hit the F5, it seemed like this would, unfortunately, be a squash match.

After Brock Lesnar let Daniel Bryan out of the pin, it became one of the best matches of the year. Daniel Bryan had one of the greatest tweener performances of all time as he did cheat but also played a spirited underdog role.

It really seemed like Daniel Bryan could get the win when he hit 2 Running Knees. It actually seemed possible that Brock Lesnar could tap out when he had the Yes Lock in. Brock Lesnar escaped with the victory.

Daniel Bryan's smile after the match proved that he now has a crazed personality. Meanwhile, we will not see Brock Lesnar for the rest of the year at least.